Aaron Smith

Obituary

Peacefully after a courageous battle with cancer, Aaron Keith Smith, passed away on July 30th 2017 surrounded by his family.

Aaron was born on August 5, 1965 at Victoria General Hospital, in Victoria, British Columbia to Reid and Beryl Smith. He grew up on the island in Port Renfrew, BC with his four siblings. He attended Port Renfrew Elementary School and Edward Milne Secondary School in Sooke, BC. Aaron told many stories of the two-hour school bus ride and all the shenanigans that took place. Aaron was very involved in sports and was an amazing athlete which continued throughout his lifetime. Aaron was competitive and liked to win at anything he did because he believed in playing hard, but also believed in fairness. He started playing hockey and softball at the age of five. He also played badminton and floor hockey. He spoke about great times playing for the Juvenille Organized team, the Sooke Thunderbirds and the Port Renfrew Riders and many have spoken of his exceptional hockey and baseball talent. His friendships throughout his school and sports years at home became strong and lifelong, which could be seen by the outpour of support from BC during his illness. He was a team player and mentor and wanted nothing more than to encourage others to play the game.

Aaron spoke fondly of growing up in Port Renfrew and enjoyed the summers his mom would set up camp at Fairy Lake. After graduating from high school, Aaron worked at Port Renfrew Cedar Products until the mill closed down. This then took him to live with his sister Cheryl in Calgary where he got a job at Domtar Packaging, where he once again made many lifelong friends. In 1995 he married Barb in his hometown of Port Renfrew, which moved him back to his home community for a few more years. Aaron knew from the age of 12 or 13 that he wanted to be a father and in 1997, his first daughter Kaitlynn Eron (aka Kaiti-boo, Pooper) was born followed by his second, Mackenzie Elsie (aka Knifer, Mack the Knife) in 2000. In 2001 he went to work in Bermuda for a few months building a water storage system for the National Grand Stand. When he returned his family settled in Winnipeg. After a short time working at Safeway, on August 13, 2001 Aaron took a position as a Transit Operator with the City of Winnipeg where he remained employed for the next 16 years. In Winnipeg, he continued his love of sports and played slow pitch with The Outlaws, a men’s slow pitch team and a deaf team called the Blue Stars. He played hockey with Wpg Transit and joined the Phat Boyz on Friday nights with his friend Harry.

The most important thing in the world to Aaron was being a father to his girls. In 2011 Aaron met Cynthia. He worked diligently to make sure he distributed the priorities in his life appropriately so that all aspects of his life, especially his kids and Cynthia, got the attention he felt they deserved. Aaron and Cynthia worked to balance life, family, travel, fun, work and friendships. Aaron loved to cook, especially with Kaitlynn and Mackenzie. He enrolled them in French immersion because he wanted them to have the benefit of speaking another language. He was a mentor, a behind the scenes teacher, an inspirer through stories and lessons he gave. He was handy and could fix or make almost anything. He loved to start traditions and continue annual ones such as perogy making parties, tree trimming parties, fondue nights, wine making with friends and regular golfing. He was an avid reader and reread Louis L’Amour books over and over again and had a more recent interest in James Paterson. He not only enjoyed playing sports but could be seen and HEARD at Kaitlynn and Mackenzie’s hockey and soccer games, wearing his Wpg Transit uniform as he would come straight from work as to not miss the game. He also coached his daughter Kaitlynn’s soccer teams the Winakwa Screamer’s and Winakwa Viper’s from age 9-17 with his buddy Garnet (together they were the good coach/bad coach team and had nicknames for all the players). He also was an avid sports fan with his favourite teams being the Vancouver Canucks, BC Lions and the Toronto Blue Jays. Aaron could be found watching sports as well as his endless favourite shows on Kodi, which he used as a means to unwind at the end of the day. He loved music – all kinds of music and he played it LOUD and sang uninhibited and off-tune. He made others sing with him; especially to one of his all-time favourites “My Ding-A-Ling”. He especially loved country music and did a mean two-step. He loved getting to know his daughter’s friends and was always the one to make a huge stack of pancakes when they slept over. He always tried to get them to try his favourite: pancakes, butter, syrup, peanut butter with a fried egg on top…and some actually did!

Aaron enjoyed camping and setting up the site perfectly, with just the right painting pole/tarp rig, to shield from sun and rain. He also enjoyed his “office time” at the cabin in Grand Marais and posted about it often on social media. He would sit on the porch for hours reading, relaxing, visiting with friends and family, resting in the hammock, golfing regularly at Grand Pines and always had a project on the go. Travelling also became something that Aaron embraced. He made every trip an adventure and soaked in the sights, sounds and opportunities and built trip rituals like having a beer and Starbucks at the airport no matter what time of the day he was flying out. He loved traveling to all inclusives in the winter, especially the Cuba trips with his girls in 2014 and 2016, which he made many sacrifices to happen. One of Aaron’s favourite vacations was the family road trip back home in 2014 where he introduced Cynthia to his home turf, family and friends. This led to a retirement plan of moving back to the island and living at the cabin in Winnipeg for the summer months, to get the best of both worlds that he and Cynthia loved.

Aaron loved children. All children – and they loved him. Often parents did not like Aaron when they first met him. He liked to do his famous “balancing an infant in the palm of his hand” which often scared newborn parents, but Aaron knew the trick to ensuring it was safe (the child had to not be able to walk yet he would tell everyone). His rough and tumble way of being with kids was not always appreciated at first by parents…but kids LOVED it and always came back for more and more. He wrestled with his girls often and even the two of them could not hold him down, even though they were raised tough.

Aaron was a big kid himself. He laughed and was a jokester and played pranks on people all the time. His mission was to have other people take things less seriously and enjoy life. He liked to tease but always in a kind way that made you eventually appreciate it. He enjoyed everything he did and you could hear it through his verbal sounds…whether it was taking a shower, jumping in a lake or pool, eating a meal, sipping a drink, trying something he was cooking, sitting down to relax…you always knew Aaron was taking in every moment. He believed this was so important in life and expressed it often.

When Aaron was first diagnosed with malignant melanoma in May 2015, he didn’t falter on his belief and commitment to beating it and said “I have 30 more years to live and annoy people”. He was determined, his attitude was positive beyond belief and he further embraced life. Aaron and Cynthia decided to go and get their motorcycle license and Aaron rode the motorcycle to his radiation treatments each day. He said it made him feel free. After surgery and radiation, Aaron got his first clear CT scan on January 27, 2016. He continued to have clear scans until his melanoma returned in February 2017. Aaron remained focused, positive and determined to beat the odds as he began on a very new immunotherapy treatment. He changed everything about his life and removed all processed foods and sugar and moved towards clean, organic and natural eating and living. He wanted to ensure that his body would be as able to fight as much as it possibly could. In May, he and Cynthia spent a pre-arranged holiday week at the cabin. Although he was weaker and in discomfort, he did a project every day and did not want to return to the city until the week was over. He managed to golf nine holes of golf the day before and rode the motorcycle the day he went into the hospital. On May 26th, Aaron was admitted to the hospital and after a very difficult week of finding out that the treatment was not working and being discontinued, he came back in true Aaron fighter form. He was no longer able to weight bare due to cancer in his hip but this did not stop Aaron. He was overwhelmed by the outpour of support, love and visits. His hospital room, and then his home, where he went after being released from the hospital, was full of people visiting, laughing, playing crib, reminiscing and supporting Aaron and his family. After Aaron’s wish to return to BC for a trip was not possible, with the help of his amazing friends, Pat and Harry, Aaron spent 10 days at their cabin. He even got a chance to visit his own cabin for an evening of visiting with Cynthia’s family and his family who were in from BC over a BC salmon BBQ on the porch. Shortly after returning home from the cabin, after visits with a few close friends and family, Aaron’s brave battle ended.

Aaron was predeceased by his father Reid in 1989 and his mother Beryl (Pierce) in 2008. Aaron is survived by his partner Cynthia Drebot, daughters Kaitlynn (Justin Anderson) and Mackenzie, siblings Cheryl (Dean Bridgeman), Robyn Jones (Scott), Holly Knapp (Rob Parish) and Brett (Amanda Hamilton) as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and countless friends.

The family would like to acknowledge the care Aaron received from his General Practitioner Dr. J. J. Jacobs, Cancer Care Oncologists, Dr. Wong (his nurse Linda) and Dr. Leylek and the Palliative Care Program Coordinator, nurses, doctors and home care workers who worked tirelessly to support Aaron and Cynthia through this journey. Thank you to all of our family and friends for the endless support in too many ways to list or mention – wow, you humbled us. A special thank you to the board and staff of North End Women’s Centre, Cynthia’s employer, who enabled Cynthia to be by Aaron’s side and care for him during these last months.

A Celebration of Aaron’s Life will take place on Saturday, August 5th which would have been his 52nd birthday, at his home located at 496 John Forsyth Road. It will be a casual come and go between the hours of 1-4pm. In lieu of flowers donations can be made in Aaron’s honour to the Cancer Care Manitoba Foundation or a charity of your choice. A private ceremony will follow in Port Renfrew, BC in the future.

We miss you more than can be put into words Aaron. You have inspired people with your strength, attitude, zest for life, way of approaching the world and your infectious spirit. We will hold your lessons close. You left us beautiful memories, your love will be our guide, and although we cannot see you, you will always be at our side. How lucky are we to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard xxxooo

• mySteinbach Jobs
• Steinbach Homes
• Steinbach Real Estate
• Steinbach Jobs
• RSS Feeds
• Get in Touch